Personal computers (PCs) serve a multitude of software applications, features and functions. The applications provide the user with tools to accomplish tasks, such as (but not limited to) document processing, spreadsheet management, email exchanges and Internet browsing. The features and functions are commonly referred to as the “personalized information” and may comprise favorite Internet websites, contacts, Internet cookies, digital signatures, background images, desktop icons, application control bars, choice of default values and other configurable settings. In general, the personalized information differs from one user to another.
Typically, software applications are installed and setup using an automated installation process. The installation process is designed to enable the integration of the new functionality into the overall organization of the operating system (OS), as well as ensuring that the application can be safely removed. Still, as an installation process is mostly carried-out by automatic installation programs, installation and setup of software applications remain a tedious task requiring as much as hours of work.
Generally, an automatic installation program performs the following activities: a) copying application software files from a removable storage (e.g., a compact disk) to the destination computer; b) configuring the operating system's parameters by, for example, the configuration of the system registry files; c) creating the application icons; and d) deleting temporary installation files.
Normally, software applications are executed exclusively within the environment in which they were actually installed. Specifically, a software application ought to be installed on each computer that runs the application. As a result, a user cannot switch between computers and work with his common applications without installing and registering those applications on each computer. Moreover, the user has to configure the personalized information when switching between computers.
In the related art, there are a few solutions for enabling the execution of applications without installing them on a computer. An example for such solution is disclosed in US patent publication 20050240918 (hereinafter the '918 application) now U.S. Pat. No. 7,600,216 by Shlomai, incorporated herein by reference for the useful understanding of the background of the invention. The method disclosed in the '918 application allows users to plug-in a portable memory device (PMD) equipped with at least one software application, and executing the software application from the PMD without installing the application. This is achieved by capturing system calls of the OS of the host computer and directing these calls to the PMD.
The approach of re-directing system calls introduces several drawbacks that prevent applications from being executed in a real virtual environment. For example, a computer executing software applications installed on the PMD is vulnerable, as such applications have the permission to write and access the file system of the computer. That is, each application installed on the PMD is an enabler for a security and privacy breach if that application is penetrated. In addition, as the PMD's applications use the local file system, they suffer from performance and functionality limitations.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a solution that allows a user to run the user's common applications in a virtual environment on any computer.